This was an exciting week because it was my first week at my new job. Whoo! I feel really lucky to have been hired, because I felt like I didn’t know even how to start finding a job. I worked at the research lab where I spent my whole undergraduate career for my first “semester” post-grad, so it felt almost like an extension of school. I was still going to campus every single day. I had been going to that lab for over 4 years already. Even though I was working, I knew that my lab job was just a security blanket, helping me delay entering the real world for just a smidge longer after making some really big life decisions the day after I graduated. So, not only was I still hoping to be a child forever, I was venturing into a completely new career path without a lot to really back me up for it. I applied to a bunch of places and couldn’t even get so much as a “Sorry, the position as been filled” email, let alone an interview. My family was starting to worry about me, which translates to a lot of unwanted (and sometimes unhelpful) advice. Luckily for me, I got a referral from a friend and that referral lead to an interview! I got the notice about my interview while I was in China, which was great because I could calm my family down a bit. I was super nervous about my interview, and while practicing, my boyfriend pointed out that I tended to ramble and got bitter talking about “past obstacles or difficulties and how I overcame them”. The morning of the interview, I was pretty panicked about those things, and then I panicked about parking because the parking garage was teeny and had almost no spots open. (Turns out I was in the wrong garage. Go figure.) My interview went really well, though, and I got my offer really soon afterwards! That was a few weeks ago. This week, I had to wake up at before 6 for the first time in months. UGH XD Waking up early has never been a strength of mine, but I have a pretty long commute, one of the many things that has made the DC metro region infamous. I’ve actually done this commute before, as I used to have a research internship at Georgetown and my new office is in the same area. My new commute consists of me  driving to a metro station and then taking that to DC, where I walk to the office. And then in reverse so that I can go home. BEFORE, I drove to the train station, took the train to DC, took the metro, and then walked to the office but with my hours being as strict as they are, the inflexible train schedule was wearing me very thing. Several people have asked me why I don’t just drive to work if I have to spend nearly 2 hours commuting each way, every day. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha lemme tell you why:

1. With DC traffic being the crapstorm that it very reliably is, especially during the freakishly long rush hours, I would end up spending at least an hour and a half on the road each way.
2. During that time, I wouldn’t be able to do what I can do on public transportation, like read, eat, write, or sleep!
3. Driving in traffic — and especially DC traffic — stresses me out a lot. I have mild anxiety regarding driving during rush hour and, these days, regarding driving in DC as well. It’s a great city but the driving is such total poop because the roads are bad and the drivers are, too.

So, seeing as how I would only save maybe 15 minutes total every day by driving, and the cost for those 15 minutes would be no naps, no reading, and no snacking… I’m really happy with my decision to take the train XD Plus, I do just really like riding trains. (That Amtrak writers’ residency? Sounds like a dream.) Anyway, I’m a real-world working girl now! That’s so crazy to consider. I always thought that I’d be in school until I was close to 30 but here I am. Not in school. Working full-time. What in the what. There are a whole bunch of other grown-up things that I need to figure out now, like moving closer to DC so that I don’t need to spend 4 hours of my day commuting, and 401Ks, and health insurance… <groan> I’m also struggling with updating my professional wardrobe, as I usually only needed to be business casual a few times a semester, at most, and now I need to have enough options to switch it up for a daily basis. D: That stuff can be handled later. But for now, I feel like I can resume my life. I was in such a funk feeling like I wasn’t going anywhere in life and being an extrovert who spent nearly all of her time alone. It was killing me. Things are looking up a bit now, though! I’m even getting new business cards, this is real business, you guys. Do you have a nice commute or is the worst part of your day? If you went straight to work after graduating, what did you do? If not, where did you go instead?